Bleach: The NightHawk
by LynnZela
Summary: (Hitsugaya Toushiro X OC) Shiba Yotaka was born as the fourth child in the Shiba clan, the little sister of Kaien, Kuukaku, Ganjyu, and the niece of Shiba Isshin. She entered the soul reaper academy and vowed to become as powerful as her older brother so she can protect the people she cared about. She successfully graduated in a year and a half. Being praised as the second genius i
1. Chapter 1: The Shiba NightHawk

**A/N: I do not own any of the characters except for Yotaka and a few subordinate characters. To make the plot flow better, there might be slight changes to the timeline as compare to the original work. Enjoy the story~~ It will follow the growth of Shiba Yotaka for the next hundred years.**

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_**Chapter one The Shiba Nighthawk**_

It was an extraordinary sunny day in the soul society. A girl, no more than three years old, was jumping up and down along the ancient style stone bridge. Her semi-spiky black hair was ties into two upward pig tails and her dark blue eyes examined the surrounding with great interest. The little girl looked really cute with her red cheeks and baby face.

Suddenly, she stopped in front of a store that had a big pink sign, "Ojiba Grand Candy shop". The girl frowned and sucked her thumb nervously, "Ugh, I forgot to bring money when I sneaked out… Maybe I should borrow some coins from old man Kimaru?"

A loud "BANG" caught the girl's attention before she could do anything else. She turned around and saw a frightened brown-haired boy pointing a shaky finger at an even younger boy who has silvery white hair. A jar of candy lied sideway on the ground.

"Such a waste." The girl stared at the glass jar and commented.

"You! You… Go away!" The brown-haired boy yelled with fear, "You will bring bad luck."

The girl looked up to see if the boy was talking to her, but he was staring straight at the kid across. "Bad Luck?" She murmured questionably.

"Isn't that obvious?! Look at his white hair! Who has white hair when they are a kid?! Can't you feel a really cold presence when he is around?" The brown-haired boy said without thinking, "The first time I looked at him, I know he is bad news…" With that final comment, the boy swirled around and stormed away with the jar of candy still lying on the ground. The girl picked it up without hesitating and let out an incredulous laugh before throwing a piece of candy at silver-haired kid.

The kid's eyes widened a bit when he saw the little object in his hand. "What are you waiting for? Eat." The girl raised an eye brown.

"Aren't you afraid of me?" The kid asked slowly. He was about the same age as the girl, but slightly taller. His green eyes were filled with confusion and loneliness while his body was slender from lack of food.

"Why would I?" The girl stepped forward and held out her right hand, "I am Shiba Yotaka. Nice to meet you."

"Hitsugaya… Toushiro… "He shook Yotaka's hand carefully, and added, "Don't you think I am bad luck?"

"Are you?"

"No… no… but…" Hitsugaya seemed surprised at Yotaka's come back, "I had only been here for a week… and everyone think I am…"

"Bad luck?" Yotaka shrugged, "I think you are good luck. I wouldn't get so much free candy if you didn't scare the brown-haired guy."

Hitsugaya sweat dropped at her reason. "Umm… Where do you live?"

Yotaka didn't take her eyes off the sweets while pointing at the central city that was surrounded by thick walls.

"Seireitei?!"

Yotaka nodded.

"You are a Shinigami?"

Yotaka shook her head. "Not yet, my brother and uncle is."

A violent earthquake stopped the children's conversation and a laud ringing started. However, nobody seemed to notice except for Yotaka and Hitsugaya.

"That sounded like a hollow… but something is different." Yotaka commented thoughtfully, then, a sudden realization came to her face, "Toushiro! Go home!" Yotaka pushed the jar of candy into Hitsugaya's arms and leaped high into the air before landing on the nearest rooftop.

Before Hitsugaya had the chance to react to the call of his first name by a girl whom he just met, the small body disappeared into the horizon with the work of shunpo. Suddenly, the jar of candy felt really heavy. The young boy murmured:" I hope I can meet you again."

In some way or another, Shiba Yotaka was the first friend Hitsugaya ever had after coming to Soul Society. At least, she was the first one who accepted him.

On the other hand, the ringing got lauder as Yotaka moved farther and farther away from Seireitei. A humanoid scream finally began. It was too low and rusty for a soul but too high for a hollow.

Yotaka kicked opened a wooden door since she was too short to reach the handle and yelped at the scene in front of her: "What the…"

Inside the house, where dinner seemed to be newly ready, the couple was holding their heads in agony. White substances covered their face and their spiritual figure flickered. A brown-haired boy was hugging himself in the corner and his face was tear-strained. It took a second for Yotaka to realize that he was the boy from earlier.

"I knew it! That kid brings bad luck…" He muttered when he spotted Yotaka, "Can you help my parents?! Please help me parents!"

Just when the young girl was about to answer, the boy started to shake violently. His spiritual presence made a dramatic change and started to resemble that of a hollow's. Yotaka stepped back as his hands turned into claws and attempted to attack her.

Within three second, his whole body twitched along with his parents'. Then, with a laud cry, the family vanished. Their body evaporated and their cloths dropped onto the ground.

Yotaka fell to her knees and covered her eyes with shaky hand. "This is a dream… It is not possible…" She repeated over and over again as if trying to hypnotize herself. She heard about the soul disappearance case from her uncle. When the laud ringing started, she knew it had something to do with it. However, the scene was still too brutal and improbable for a three year-old girl (Although Yotaka lived longer than that). The terrified faces of the boy's family were permanently imprinted in her brain. How much pain, Yotaka asked herself, did the couple bear to produce such agonized scream. Whoever caused this has to be a very harsh and heartless man.

"Are you okay?" A playful voice asked from behind Yotaka's back.

The girl turned around to see a teenage boy with silver hair and closed eyes. His smirk was mischievous and dangerous. The boy wore a black shinigami gotei with a relatively short sword hanging across his belt.

"They… they just disappeared!" Yotaka said. Fear was drained in her voice and her pupils dilated.

"Calm down. It will be okay." The boy patted Yotaka's head and said, "Mind to tell me your name?"

"Shiba… Yotaka…"

"Yotaka? Nighthawk? (Yotaka means nighthawk in Japanese) " The boy smiled as he picked her up, "Nice name. My name is … Ichimaru Gin."

"Gin…Silver…(Gin means silver in Japanese)" Yotaka murmured as she fell asleep.

When Yotaka woke up again, she was back to the Shiba household. A man with spiky black hair was sitting beside her bed.

"Uncle Isshin!"

"Yo…" The man greeted the little girl with a gentle hit on her head, "Don't sneak out without me knowing! It's pretty dangerous in Rukongai lately."

"Uncle Isshin…" Yotaka completely ignored what the man was saying and looked at him with glowing eyes, "Do you have any candy?!"

The man anime fell as he held out a small sugar cub: "If you keep this up… you will lose all of your teeth before you even became an adult."

Again, the small girl acted as if she didn't hear what Isshin was saying: "Uncle, is it possible for a soul to evaporate?"

Isshin nodded: "When souls are ready to pass on, they will reborn in the world of living. It's not exactly 'evaporate'… Too bad for us. When shinigamis die, we turn into the spiritual presence that guarded Seireitei..."

"That's not what I mean." Yotaka interrupted, "I saw how people pass on. Nobody would turn all hollow-like and scream unnaturally before vanishing, leaving their clothes behind… When people pass on… don't their clothes disappear with them?"

Hearing his niece's description, Isshin's playful expression faded. What Yotaka said sounded awfully like the soul-disappearance case that was happening all of Rukongai. However, turn hollow-like? That sounded very…

"Don't worry about it…" Isshin smiled, "I am sure division nine will take care of this incident."

"But…" Yotaka began, but finished the sentence silently: I have a really bad feeling about this…

A black butterfly lingered in the air. As soon as Isshin spotted it, his face paled: "Yotaka, I need to go back to work. Don't run around without telling me 'kay?"

Watching her uncle's solid back, the youngest Shiba can almost hear her conscience screaming: "Everything is going to change…"

"It's going to change…" She whispered.

"Yotaka!" A twelve year-old girl with blonde pig tails, and lieutenant armband stepped in the room. She was carrying a basket on her back and her Zanpakuto hanged round her waist.

"Hiyori?" Yotaka's eyes brightened, "I thought you are supposed to be working…"

The blondie, Hiyori, scolded, "Don't even mention my 'duty'… Stupid Kisuke sent me to collect evidence on the soul-disappearance case. Why do I, a lieutenant, have to do this! It sounds so unimportant! Anyways, I am just passing by and expressing my anger…"

Yotaka giggled at the older girl's comment. Who would actually call their captain by their first name…She had always been looking up to Hiyori as a role model. The lieutenant of the twelfth division is always so straight forward and brave. Hiyori smelled like sunshine.

"Hi-Chan… I have a really bad feeling about this…" Yotaka started, "Can you… not go?"

For a second, Hiyori blanked. Yotaka's remark was completely unexpected and out of character. "It's okay…" The blonde-haired girl smirked, "I am really strong."

Yotaka reached out at Hiyori's leaving figure, as if trying to pull her back, but her hand and stopped midway and dropped down. "I should trust Hi-Chan…" But the voice, once again, told her that this would the last time she would see Hiyori in a long long time.


	2. Chapter 2: The First Kido Class

Chapter two The First Kido Class

Ten years after Hiyori, Urahara, Yoruichi, Hirako and several other people escaped to the world of living because of the hollowfication incident, Yotaka entered the soul reaper academy despite how much her siblings said not to. Kaien thought Yotaka was too young. Kuukaku and Ganjyu simply thought fireworks were way cooler.

"I want to be stronger!" Was all Yotaka said to convince Isshin.

The older man laughed when he heard this: "The little girl is growing up. I feel so old."

The entrance exam was really easy. All they had to do was putting their hands on a glass sphere and release their spiritual pressure. If the level of reiatsu met the minimal value, the student will be accepted. Whether one's reiatsu was powerful enough also determined in which class one would go to. There are three classes. Class one was for people who are considered talented and possessed strong reiatsu. All of the captains and most of the lieutenants were graduated as a member of class one. Class two was for mediate-leveled people. They have a relatively high spiritual pressure, but not strong enough to be considered "gifted". However, many of them became seat officers and even lieutenants if they worked hard enough. Class three was where all the normal division members came from. They had a large number of students and low quality teaching.

Yotaka was first in her grade without any doubts. The amount of reiatsu she produced even startled the six year who was responsible for the organization of the testing. Come in second, was a boy named "Hisagi Shuhei", who looked around thirteen and had the number "69" tattooed on his cheek. Among all the students in class one, he was one of two people who came from Rukongai. The other one was Sawada Manaka, a thirteen year-old girl with shoulder length brown hair and dark purple eyes. Most importantly, she was Yotaka's roommate.

"What!?" When Manaka heard Yotaka's self introduction, she pointed a finger at her shakily, "You are the first place!? No way! How old are you!"

"Nice to meet you~~ Manaka Nee-San." Yotaka didn't grow much in the past few years, a fact that was constantly troubling her. Isshin told her that children born with a large reiatsu tend to have a very slow growth speed. Kaien called it "the side effect of being a genius"…

Manaka was stunned by the fact that Yotaka called her by her first name right after they met, but recovered instantly.

"Ahhh! Yotaka-Chan! So cute!" The brown-haired girl squished the small girl between her arms, "I don't care if you are first place or not. I want a younger sister like you!"

Suddenly, a recognition crossed Manaka's face: "Shiba?! You are from one of the four noble clans?!"

"Well…" Yotaka's face dropped, "Shiba is not exactly a noble last name anymore…" The name "Shiba" was erased from the list of nobles ever since the death of her father. However, it still held a bit of fame form 10th division captain, Shiba Isshin, and 13th division lieutenant Shiba Kaien. Yotaka vowed to bring back the authorities that the Shibas used to have.

For the first few months in the soul reaper academy, all they learned was the histories of Seireitei and the knowledge of the hollows. It was dull and boring. Most of the students were asleep on their table, all except for Hisagi Shuhei, Sawada Manaka and Yotaka herself. The instructor of class one was a young man named Hitomi Yoshirou, who always had a bored look on his face and looked almost as if he was going to fall asleep himself. Instructor Hitomi was the fifth seat officer in the third division who was assigned the job of teaching after his major injury during a battle with a hollow. He did not like the "brats" in his class, especially the nobles who act so superior. He was from Rukongai for sure since"Hitomi" was definitely not a noble last name

The first skill-based class Yotaka had was Kido, the way of demon. Yotaka generally liked Kido since it allowed her to rely less on her Zanpakuto. It was true that Zanpakuto was the symbol of power, but what if it breaks during a battle? Soul cutting swords are allies of Shinigamis, not their caretakers. To prevent the situation of being helpless when Zanpakutos were not around, it was best to learn Kido. Many people underestimated how powerful Kido spells can be. It is the power from within a shinigami. Only souls of a certain level of reiatsu and spiritual control and use it.

"Shakkaho is one of the most commonly seen attacks you will see during a fight. It is easy to use and quite effective when against weak hollows." Instructor Hitomi explained with his usual monotone, "Although the incantation is quite long, but I expect you to be able to use the spell without the incantation before you graduate. Understand?!"

"Hai!"

The students lined up in front of the targets with slightly excited faces. Most of the nobles wanted to show-off, since they probably already practiced Kido with their personal tutors.

"First row! UP!"

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who hears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south. Hado #31, Shakkaho!" High-pitch voices of the kids sounded spontaneously. A row of baseball-sized fire balls shot out of individual's hands. As soon as the attacks contacted the targets, the paper boards blew up.

Instructor Hitomi did not look surprise at how everyone succeeded on their first tries, instead, he looked very bored: "Good job on your first tires, although I don't think this is your first tries."

Hearing Hitoms's implication, Yotaka's heart dropped. She had never done Kido before. What if nothing happen when she finishing saying the incantation? She could almost imagine the nobles' laughter.

"Second row! UP!"

Yotaka watched as her classmate stepped forward and held their palms out. Different from last time, a loud explosion sounded. A fire ball the size of a basketball burned the two consecutive targets into ashes, not even dusts were left behind. Yotaka was stunned when she found a brown-haired teenage girl to be one who produced the Shakkaho: "Woah!" Yes, the Kido genius was her only roommate, Sawada Manaka, the girl from Rukongai, district 35.

The older girl examined her hands with disbelief: "Did I … do that?"

Instructor Hitomi looked interested for the first time: "Excellent work, Sawada."

Manaka blushed at the complement.

"Third row! Up!"

Hisagi Shuhei memorized the incantation a long time ago. The words came out of his mouth with great fluency. However, when he said "Shakkaho", nothing happened. Not even the slightest smoke emerged. He looked down at the ground with disappointment.

Just when he was about to walk away, a noble grabbed his shoulder and laughed: "No wonder you failed, you are only a scum from Rukongai."

Yotaka suddenly felt a wave of disgust. People who judge others by their family background were the lowest form of life. From her experiences, most geniuses are from Rukongai.

Before Manaka had chance to punch the noble, Yotaka used the most innocent voice she had, which was really convincing, since her appearance was only four years old: "What's wrong with Rukongai?"

"Don't you know?" The noble ruffled his curly dark hair and scolded, "People from Rukongai are trash."

Both Manaka and Shuhei's eyes burned with anger: "What…"

"But Shuhei is the second in this class." Yotaka interrupted before her friends had the chance to do anything stupid, "Does that mean you are worse than trash?"

Instructor Hitomi watched the quarrel and made no intension of stopping the fight. The noble's face paled. Shuhei watched Yotaka, stunned, whether it was because a stranger called him by his first name or the fact that a noble just attacked another noble to defend him. Manaka tried hard not to laugh.

Even though the class had started for at least a month, nobody knew each other's name except for noble clans that were alliances. Therefore, it was normal to be ignorant of who was first or second.

"I… I am first." The noble boy raided his chin a bit and pretended to be proud, but the suspicious red on his cheek suggest otherwise.

Manaka finally decided not to hold it anymore and let out a rather laud snicker: "You should ask for her name before you lie."

Meeting the boy's confused stare, Yotaka held out a hand: "My name is Shiba Yotaka, nice to meet you."

For a second, the whole class remained silent. Even instructor Hitomi widened his eyes a bit. (Don't judge! He never did attendants.)

"What!? Shiba Yotaka is that little girl!?" The boy's jar dropped significantly, "No way!"

"No more talking!" Instructor Hitomi face palmed at the noble's self-destructive behavior, "Fourth row up!"

Yotaka stepped up among four other students, all of whom were at least two head taller than she was. Feeling countless stares, the little girl's hands were covered in swears. Internally, she regretted introducing herself earlier. Now that everyone thought she was some sort of genius, it would be extremely embarrassing if she fail, even if it was her first attempt.

The black-haired girl inhaled deeply and began the incantation: "Ye lord! Mask of blood and fresh, all creation…"

The sensation of compressed spiritual pressure started to form around Yotaka's palm: "… flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! ..." A faint red light was visible at this point and growing with a rapid speed. Confidence overwhelmed Yotaka and her voice was a bit louder.

"… Infernal and pandemonium," Yotaka can almost feel the heat coming from the mix of red light and flame, "the sea barrier surges, march on to the south."

A pause…

"HADO #31, SHAKKAHO!" The young voices yelled in unison.

With an explosion, the target in from of Yotaka was completely destroyed. Although it was not as impressive as Manaka's, Yotaka felt satisfied. Not everyone can be a Kido genius anyways. The girls high-fived each other before the end of class.

As students were returning back to their dorms, a boy with spiky dark hair and the number "69" tattooed to his cheek tapped Yotaka genteelly on her shoulder: "Shiba, thanks for helping me today."

"No worries, I hate those self-centered nobles since the day I was born. By the way, my friend is a genius at Kido. Do you want some help from her?"

The conversation sounded more and more like the beginning of a newfound friendship. It didn't matter how Hisagi looked about ten years older than Yotaka. The age of shinigamis cannot be judged by one's experience. Chapter Three Special Zanjutsu Instructor

"Today, we are going to have two special guests…" Instructor Hitomi's normal lack of enthusiasm attitude vanished. Instead, he looked out of characteristically serious, "Captain Aizen and lieutenant Ichimaru!"

The name "Ichimaru" caught Yotaka attention. A blurry memory of a silver-haired teenage boy appeared in front of her eyes.


	3. Chapter 3: Special Zanjutsu Instructor

**A/N: Thanks to people who added this story as their favorite. I hope you like it! As I said before, the timeline will be a bit messed up :P See if you can notice what is wrong. **

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"Today, we are going to have two special guests…" Instructor Hitomi's normal lack of enthusiasm attitude vanished. Instead, he looked so serious that it was out of character, "Captain Aizen and lieutenant Ichimaru!"

The name "Ichimaru" caught Yotaka attention. A blurry memory of a silver-haired teenage boy appeared in front of her eyes.

"Gin…?" Yotaka murmured, looking expectedly at the door.

As if responding to Yotaka's question, the door was pushed open. A man with gentle brown eyes stepped in. His division five captain rode made a nice curve in the air as he walked in. Following him, a young adult with his usual dangerous smirk and shiny silver hair emerged. He scanned the students and made a small wave at Yotaka.

"Shiba-Chan." Hisagi Shuuhei whispered beside the little girl's ear, "Do you know lieutenant Ichimaru?"

"Somewhat." The truth was, she remembered Gin, but the chance that he still knew her was pretty slim. He might just be greeting her because she stood out in the crowd (because of her height).

"WOAH! Taka-Chan." Sawada Manaka ruffled the younger girl's hair as if they were close sisters, "Knowing a lieutenant at such a young age?"

Yotaka blushed, turning her head so that she won't be facing her friend, "He kinda saved me when I was younger…"

Before Manaka can tease Yotaka any further, the fifth division captain spoke: "Today, we will be teaching you Zanjutsu. Since nobody has a Zanpakuto yet, we will be using wooden swords." Captain Aizen's voice was warming and soft, more like an older brother than a powerful shinigami.

Gin took out a bucket full of practice swords and gestured everyone to line up. Yotaka found that the wooden "sticks" to be even taller than herself, which made swinging it hard.

"You need to grow taller, Taka-Chan." Manaka snickered.

"Shut… Up…" The young Shiba scratched her head doubtfully, "I will grow eventually… My brother and sister are pretty tall."

Yotaka raised her sword, but the weight caused her to fall before the weapon could reach her forehead. "AHHHH!..."

"Are you okay?" Shuhei asked, worried, while pulling Yotaka up.

Yotaka touched her slightly bruised noise and pouted: "It's big and heavy."

"Hahahahahahahah…" Surprisingly, the laughter did not came from Manaka

"Gin!" Captain Aizen warned, "Shiba is still young, you shouldn't laugh at her."

"It's fine." Gin waved his hand, "I will teach Yotaka-Chan personally." The silver haired lieutenant walked to Shuhei and picked Yotaka out of his hands.

"Long time no see." He whispered, "It had been ten years. I was expecting you all this time."

"Expecting… me?"

"With your large amount of reiatsu, I would be surprised if you decided not to become a Shinigami. Remember to come to my division when you graduate."

"Division Five?"

"No. You will know when the time comes."

Gin took out his Zanpakuto, a relatively short katana compared to his arm length, and cut off a portion of Yotaka's practice sword: "Now it should be the right size."

Yotaka looked at her toy-like wooden "stick" and compared it to Gin's Zanpakuto: "Your sword looks really …. Short?"

Gin grinned his sinister way: "It's actually really long."

Yotaka didn't get the chance to ask further questions since Gin already raised his own practice sword and charged at her. His strikes were fast, hard and strong.

The black-haired girl blinked at Gin's sudden movement, but managed to duck at the last second. There were advantages to her small body. It made her movements faster than usual.

"Ala? You ducked?"

Yotaka never studied Zanjutsu. However, she did watch a lot of street fights when she wondered around Rukongai with Ganjyu. She knew it would be worse if she tried to attack Gin. Her swings were full of flaws and her balance was really bad from holding the wooden katana. All she could do was to minimize her injury by evading all the attacks.

Gin frowned a bit: "Ala? Are you going to hide forever?"

"… Can't…" Sweats were pouring down Yotaka's back and her jumps were getting so slow that Gin's sword almost hit her numerous times, "…attack…Gin is …too good."

The silver-haired lieutenant suddenly stopped, causing Yotaka to slam into him. "Ow…" Gin has abs… Yotaka grumbled internally.

"Taicho!" Gin called out with a playful tone as he held the girl under his armpit, "I'm borrowing Taka-Chan for a minute. You wouldn't mind, right?"

Before Captain Aizen had the chance to reply, Gin shunpoed into the woods carrying Yotaka.

"Where are we going?" Yotaka felt dizzy at how fast a lieutenant-leveled shinigami can be.

"Training~~ yo~~" Gin smirked, "Taka-Chan is still too weak."

"I'm only a first year…"

"Ala… Are you really planning to graduate according to the academy's six-year system? Your brother finished it in two years. Beside, the way that they teach is not suitable for you. If you follow the curriculum that the senseis prepare, you will never surpass the limit of your body built."

Yotaka went silent for a moment: "What do you mean by… the limit of my body built…?"

"Souls who have large reiatsu since birth have really slow growth speed. Especially the kinds like you who trained in shinigami skills at such a young age. In short, your already have enough reiatsu to be a soul reaper, but your body is too weak to handle. Ala… this can be changed if you work hard."

"Why is Gin helping me?" Yotaka asked, confused at how nice the silver-haired lieutenant was to her despite his dangerous look.

Gin's mischievous laugh sounded in the winds: "Sa… Who knows?"

* * *

A day past really fast, the sun went down and the moon came up. Yotaka dragged her bruised body and walked slowly back to the dorms. She WAS NOT going to do any more shunpo after all those speed related exercise that Gin gave her while _he_ sat on a tree himself and enjoyed the sweets that Uncle Isshin gave_ her_. Surprising, Gin was a really good teacher (If you ignore his teasing), but amount of work she was asked to do really surpassed the function of a four-year-old's body.

"Wow!" Manaka exclaimed when she saw the state that the little girl was in, "What happened?"

"Gin happened!" Yotaka grumbled before falling head first on her bed.

The night went by without any dreams.

For the next few months, Yotaka would always skip her Zanjutsu classes to train with Gin. Despite how much she hated it, it did help her to become stronger.

"Shiba!" Shuhei waved his hands as he saw the girls, "Sawada-San! Have you heard about the new member change?!"

"What?" Manaka demanded, still feeling frustrated that she had to wake up early on the last day of school.

"Ichimaru Gin's promotion." Shuhei pointed at a newspaper headline, "From today and on, he would officially be the third division captain."

Yotaka suddenly remembered how Gin told her to join _his_ division but hot division five. _Did he already know he's going to be a captain?_

"I knew it." Manaka crossed her arms, "but it happened faster than I thought."

"How?" Yotaka asked.

"I know a lot of things." Manaka grinned like a little girl, then, her face turned very serious, "Although I know it would be impossible to change fate, but as a friend, I still want to warn you. _Don't go to division three, five and nine._"

Shuhei and Yotaka stared at their friend, feeling rather confused.

"Never mind." Manaka sighed, "I didn't expect you to understand me, but please trust me on this one."

Yotaka nodded. She trusted Manaka and understand that her friend wouldn't do anything just to harm her, but she already promised Gin to go to division three…

"Break starts tomorrow." Instructor Hitomi announced, "You can choose to stay at the academy or go home. It would be a month long and I hope none of you forget to practice Kido, Shunpo, Hakuda and Zanjutsu."

"Is it me or does Instructor Hitomi look extra happy today?" Shuhei whispered.

"Probably really happy to get rid of us for a month." Manaka shrugged.

"Where are you going for break?" Yokata ignored Shuhei's sweat drop and asked curiously.

"Probably staying in the academy…" Manaka answered, staring at the cieling, "I don't have a family in Rukongai…"

"Same. My friends all died from the incident ten years ago." Shuhei nodded in agreement, "I am going to stay and practice Kido…"

"We get a month off and all you wanted to do is practice Kido?" Yotaka raised an eyebrown at the older boy.

"Don't blame him…" Manaka yawned with tiredness, "His Kido sucks. At least he can fire a nice looking Shakkaho now."

Shuhei blushed at the comment and looked ashamed at himself.

"But Manaka, your Zanjutsu sucks too." Yotaka pointed out, watching as her friend's face turned bright red.

The brunette jumped onto the table and pointed a finger at Yotaka: "Look who's talking!? You can't even lift a sword on your first class!"

Instructor Hitomi's fake coughing interrupted Manaka's angry accusation: "Uh… Sawada? I don't care if you don't listen in class… but can you calm down… and sit down?"

It was a moment to be forever remembered.


	4. Chapter 4: Dangerous Situation

In the residential area of Seireitei, where the noble clans tend to live, a relatively small ancient-Japanese styled house stood beside a nicely made garden and pond. In the front of the house, the door looked somewhat intricate and simple at the same time. The small designs of decorations expressed a sense elegance that only people of high-status could obtain. However, inside the house…

"GANJYU! I heard you went to Rukongai and got into a fight! That's fine by me… but," A young girl with the appearance of a sixteen-year-old, wearing slightly exposed clothing that did not cover most of her back, pointed a younger boy with a rather dangerous dark looks. Anime veins covered her forehead, "YOU LOST?! HOW DARE YOU RUIN THE NAME OF OUR CLAN!"

The boy, who looked around ten, covered his head with his hands and sat in a corner: "Onee-Sama… I'm really sorry… I…"

Before Ganjyu had the chance to finish his sentence, the teenage girl raised one of her legs and slammed her foot toward the boy's head: "NO EXCUSE!"

"Haha…" A young man held the furious girl by her shoulder before she could bully their little brother any further, "Kuukaku… Calm down, Ganjyu is still young… and you shouldn't encourage him to get into street fights…"

"Young? Yotaka is even younger and she is way more sensitive than this brat! At least, she didn't lose a darn street fight!" Kuukaku yelled while kicking her legs toward Ganjyu's direction.

Yes… What you are seeing is a typical day in the Shiba household. The oldest is the young man who was holding back his sister, Shiba Kaien, lieutenant of the 13th division. Then, it came Shiba Kuukaku, the master at fireworks and a genius at reiatsu control. However, for some unknown reason, she refused to become a shinigami. The third child was Shiba Ganjyu, who seem relatively week under the influence of his siblings, but he was the renowned head of a growing gang in Rukongai. The youngest, of course, was Shiba Yotaka, the second prodigy in the Shiba Clan and a trainee at Shinoreijutsuin (The spirit Art Academy).

"But… Yotaka never got into a street fight…" Ganjyu bit his thumb nervously as he muttered, "She's in the Academy all the time."

As soon as Ganjyu finished, the front door was pushed open with a laud "BANG". A little girl stepped in. Her baby face was slightly red from Shunpoing home and her semi-spiky pig tails moved up and down as he breathed in and out. The little girl examined the situation with her dark cat-like eyes and laughed instantly: "Ganjyu ni-san lost a fight again, didn't he?"

"What?! How do you know?" Ganjyu jumped up like a rabbit.

Yotaka blinked and said as innocently as possible: "Because Ni-san looked like a lost puppy…"

"Even Yotaka…?" Ganjyu suddenly lost all of his pride of being an older brother. He regretted his choice of letting his sister to go to that stupid Academy. After all, Yotaka used to look up to Ganjyu… a lot.

"Ahh! Our little Yotaka is back." Kaien bent down as he ruffled the little girl's hair, smiling his usual older-brother smile, "How's school?"

"Really fun! I even made friends!" Yotaka replied, "And they gave me a lot of candies!"

The Shiba siblings sweat dropped. They had forgotten their little sister's obsession over candies.

"Can I go to Rukongai tomorrow?" Yotaka ignored their reaction and asked.

"What?! Are you going to revenge for my lost?" Ganjyu looked at the little girl with disbelief, "It's okay, I can do that by myself."

Yotaka glanced at her second oldest brother and raised her eyebrows: "Of course not. I'm going to do something way more productive than revenge for your fight; I'm going to buy candy."

* * *

The second morning, Rukongai was as busy as usual. Compare to Seireitei, Rukongai was always noisier and more energetic. Perhaps it was because there were more people, or maybe it was because people who lived there have more freedom. People of all ages wondered around the streets. There were people talking, shopping and joking at one another. Among them, small children moved between grown-ups and were play hide and seek.

There was only one spot that was unusually quite. A five-year-old boy stood in front of what looked like a deserted Candy shop. His silvery white hair stood out in the crowd of black and brown. A pair of jade-green eyes scanned the streets, as if trying to find something.

"Shiro!" A slightly taller girl waved her hand at the boy while attempting to squeeze through the hordes of souls, "I knew it! You are here again."

The little boy frowned a bit at the nickname and replied slowly: "I am waiting for someone! Bed-wetting Momo."

"Don't call me that!" Momo snapped, following the boy's leaving figure. Unintentionally, she raised her head and read the dusted old sign "Ojiba Grand Candy Shop".

"An old shop?" Momo grumbled, "I heard the owner passed on… five years ago?"

"I met her… here." The boy murmured.

"Who?"

* * *

Even in the districts that are closer to Seireitei, Rukongai was still Rukongai. Being a soul in the Rukongai area was never safe. Such as now… A hollow emerged from the distant forest. The originally nosy but peaceful street suddenly went on a rampage. People were pushing each other, mothers were yelling for their children and kids huddled together in the corner.

The little boy grabbed Momo's hand and started to run toward to home, which was where the hollows were.

"Tou… Toushiro?"

"We have to check on grandma!" Toushiro's voice was firm and clam, "We can't just leave her!"

"How …how do we defeat the hollow?" Despite her shaping limps, Momo did not run away.

Toushiro suddenly stopped. His eyebrows were locked tightly together. Clearly, it was a problem that he did not consider: "I don't care! I'm not leaving grandma alone!"

Not waiting for Momo's answer, he started to sprint toward the fire and smoke. Momo hesitated for a second, but made up her mind and followed after the younger boy with anxiousness.

"Toushiro! Momo! RUN!" A rusty voice screamed from the fallen building.

This caught the hollow's attention. It bent down and picked up an elderly figure from the wood planks and stones.

"Grandma!" The children yelled in unison. Toushiro was already looking around for a usable weapon.

"Hado #31, Shakkaho!" A young and high-pitched voice sounded behind Toushiro and Momo. Instantly, a fireball the size of the hollow's hand shot out beside Toushiro's ear and exploded as it contact the Hollow's mask.

The Hollow let out a furious roar before dropping the poor granny. At this rate, it was obvious that the old lady was not going to survive the fall.

Before Toushiro or Momo had the chance to react, a shadow of back, white and red speeded past them, caught the falling lady, and jumped away just in time to avoid the Hollow's punch. The shadow then backed away quickly and placed granny gently on the ground beside Momo.

"Bakudo, #9, Geki!"

A faint red light surrounded the Hollow and kept it completely still. However, it didn't take long before the light vanished and the Hollow to break free. "Bakudo, #9, Geki!" This time, the shadow attacked before the hollow got the chance to surpass the spell.

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hado #33, Sokatsui!"

An enormous ball of blue flame crashed down upon the struggling Hollow. With a loud "BOOM", the Hollow was covered with black burn marks.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who hears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south. Hado #31, Shakkaho!" With the help of incantation, the fire ball was even faster and bigger.

BOOM! The Hollow lost its arm. It screamed in agony and stomped its foot toward the shadow: "STUPID BRATS! DARN IT!"

Then, the ground shook. Two more Hollows leaped in from the dark forest, landing beside their injured friend.

"Go!" The shadow turned around and shouted at the family, "Don't just stand there! Run!"

At that instance, Toushiro saw the shadow's face. It was a four-year-old girl, a little girl with dark cat eyes and spiky pig tail who dressed in the Soul Reaper Academy's uniform. Her white top was gray with smoke and her red bottom was covered in mud and blood. However, Toushiro was not stunned by the state she was in, but…

"Shiba…" He started uncertainly, "Yotaka?"

"Huh?" The girl examined him with a 'do-I-know-you' look before a sudden realization came across her face, "Toushiro?"

The Hollows were definitely unhappy at the children's ignorance. The once on the left raised its arm and jammed it harshly at Yotaka. It would be impossible for a person to not notice such a big movement. She could get away with Shunpo… but what about Toushiro and his family? Yotaka didn't have enough strength to carry three people at the same time.

"Bakudo #9, Geki!"

This Hollow was stronger than the last one. Geki couldn't hold him long enough for Yotaka to use any powerful Kido spells. She spun around with determination and pushed the family as far away as possible.

Toushiro yelped and Momo screamed as their backs hit a pile of wooden planks. Then, the spell was broken with a giant hand came crushing down with a blank of an eye.

* * *

**Chapter Five Preview: **

**"Do you need me?" It was a soft caring voice, reminded Yotaka of a mother that she never had, "If you need me... call on my name..." **


	5. Chapter 5: Yorukiri

**A/N: Thank you for all the followings and favorites! I decided split up the chapters for more updates. Enjoy the story!**

* * *

After all these years of waiting, this was not how Toushiro imagined their meeting to be. His back was burning from the harsh impact while Momo's light moaning was ring beside his ears. Most importantly, he couldn't find the girl who just saved them. Dusts rose from the Hollow's attack, covering the whole battle ground. Worst case scenario, Yotaka was probably already crushed under the Hollow's gigantic palm.

* * *

With her small body, Yotaka did manage to escape at the last second. However, the Hollow was still fast enough to pierce through her right shoulder.

For the first time, Yotaka wished she had a Zanpakuto…

The Hollows were moving again. Maybe it was because of Yotaka's weakened reiatsu, they walked right past the rock that she was hiding behind and toward…

_Toushiro!_

"Darn! I can't move! Why aren't the Shinigamis here yet!" Yotaka cursed under her breath. The average arrival speed of Shinigamis depended on how close a district was to Seireitei. Where Toushito lived was right outside of Seireitei's boundary walls. Normally, the soul reapers should be here within five minutes. Nevertheless, it had already been ten minutes since Yotaka saw the black butterflies flying into Rukongai. Did something happen when the orders were spread?

Yotaka dragged her tiny body up and focused her reiatsu on her feet – the basic of Shunpo. The Hollows were big and slow. They have enormous strength but awkward movements. The biggest advantage ordinary Shinigamis had was speed. Of course, if you were captain-level, it would be another story.

If the little girl could use her Shunpo at top speed, she could arrive in front of Toushiro before the Hollows do…

But what should she do after that? There wouldn't be enough time to recite the incarnations, and her powers couldn't afford another incarnationless Kido spell…

"I need a Zanpakuto!" A regular Katana would be fine as well. Hell, even a practice sword could save her life at the moment.

Yotaka realized many years after, that a Shinigami's Zanpakuto was a part of their owner's soul. They can sense their owner's emotions and desires. If the incident did not happen, Yotaka's desire to get a Zanpakuto would never be awaken so early. She had always been sacred of the power of soul-cutting swords, scared of relying too much on a weapon. But, she didn't notice, that a Zanpakuto wasn't merely a weapon, it's a Shinigami's biggest strength and ally.

_"Do you need me?" It was a soft caring voice, reminded Yotaka of a mother that she never had, "If you need me... call on my name..."_

Yotaka hesitated. Her vision was fading with dark spots dancing all around.

"Yes, I need you." The little girl whispered. Reiatsu exploded with her as the centre: "_Yorukiri_!"

Bright light covered Yotaka's right arm. It was compressed and shrunken until all the energy and been forced into a sword-like shape. The Zanpakuto, Yorukiri, was a light purple katana whose length surpassed Yotaka's height. At the hilt of the sword, a white ribbon was connected to two silver bells. From the trainings that Gin gave her, Yotaka could finally swing a Zanpakuto without much effort.

The Hollows stopped a step before reaching Toushiro and Momo as they had sensed a bigger threat.

"Shiba?" Toushito asked with uncertainty.

The pain from Yotaka's shoulder momentarily stopped. Though, she knew when the adrenaline wore off, the sensation would be twice as worse.

"Let's go! Yorukiri!"

The black-haired girl shunpoed up one of the Hollow's arm and stood over its head. Another one spotted her and decided to attack. It raised its claws and swung them at her, above the head of his friend. Yotaka calculated the timing and allowed one Hollow to accidentally kill another one as she leaped backward at the last second.

"_Engulf the universe, Yurokiri!_" Mists emerged from thin air, forming sharp edges that could cut through flesh and bones as if they were tofu. Yotaka swung her Zanpakuto in order to command the formless mists to cover the bodies of the Hollows.

The creatures roared and yelled along with the sound of knives cutting through their bodies.

When the air cleared, three Hollows lied on the ground, in a pool of their own blood. They let out one last whimper and dissolved into dusts. At the same time, Yotaka collapsed from exhaustion, holding her newfound Zanpakuto closely to her chest.

"Oi! Shiba!" Toushiro ran toward Yotaka and shook her lightly, "Oi! Wake Up!"


	6. Chapter 6: Manaka's Secret

**A/N: Thanks kellykat16, NekoFelia and .Uchiha for your reviews. Your supports are my biggest encouragement. I will try to make the story more interesting.  
**

* * *

"What happened here!?" A team of shinigamis showed up. Most of them with scratches and burns, as if they just came out of a heart-racing battle, "We received information that hollows showed up in this district, too… but I can't see any."

Too? Toushiro thought. That explained why they were so slow to the scene.

"Yotaka!" A male's voice called out urgently.

Toushiro looked up to see a man with spiky black hair. His facial features resembled that of Yotaka's. The man was obviously a high-ranked shinigami with a lieutenant armband around his left arm.

"Lieutenant Shiba, this girl needs immidate medical treatment. She is losing too much blood!" A shinigami reported, "She's wearing an academy uniform. We assume she is one of first years."

Shiba… Toushiro though, He's probably her older brother.

"I'm sorry. Shiba got hurt protecting me and my family." Toushiro said quietly.

Yotaka's older brother gave the younger boy a toothy grin and answered: "It's okay. Yotaka wants to become a shinigami. It's our job to protect the others."

* * *

Yotaka felt weak, with her shoulder releasing a constant dull pain. She sat up slowly and looked around: "Why am I in division four?"

Then, all the memories came back.

Hollows…Toushiro…Attacks…Zanpakuto…Yorukiri…Yorukiri?

"Yorukiri!" Yotaka's eyes widened as she saw her ligh purple katana lying beside her pillow, "I actually found my Zanpakuto…"

"Of course, Taka-Chan." The woman's kind voice echoed in Yotaka's head, "You should believe in my power… in your power."

"I'm sorry…"

"It's fine. I'm happy to have you as my owner."

Yotaka smiled lightly.

"Ta~~~~Ka~~~~Chan~~~" The familiar cheerful tone belonged to none other than our most beloved friend, Sawada Manaka, "Are you still alive?!" The hyper brunette leaped into the room with Hisagi Shuuhei following her trail.

"Shiba! Did you really fight three hollow all by yourself?" Shuuhei asked with excitement, "and found your Zanpakuto too?"

"Yup!" Yotaka smiled while holding up her new-found Zanpakuto, "Everyone meet Yorukiri!"

"Taka-Chan is such a genius, but…" Manaka's face suddenly fall, "We can't go to school together anymore…"

"Why?" Yotaka and Shuuhei asked in unison.

Manaka sighed: "Don't you get it? Zanpakuto is the symbol of Shinigamis. When you find your sword, you will be considered a real soul reaper. Normally, students would have at least five years of training before attempting to summon their Zanpakuto. Once you find it, you will officially become a graduated Shinigami. Mah… It's not surprising that Taka-Chan is going to graduate early."

"Shiba… is going to graduate?" Shuhei concluded.

"Yes." Manaka crossed her arms and closed her eyes, "There will probably be a lot of captains wanting Taka-Chan on their divisions. But… the final decision is Taka-Chan's."

"Where do you want to go?" Shuhei asked curiously.

"Division… three?" Yotaka thought of Ichimaru Gin's smirking face and said, "I promised Gin a while ago."

Manaka's face paled and her hands started to tremble. Seeing her friend's reaction, Yotaka suddenly remembered the warning that she gave not long ago… about avoiding division three, five and nine. Although Yotaka couldn't understand where that cautiousness came from, but Manaka seemed pretty serious about the matter. However, she already promised Gin to join his division…

"Mana…ka?" The little girl asked carefully, "What's wrong with Captain Ichimaru, Captain Aizen and Captain Tosen…?"

Suddenly, the room became so quiet that even a pin dropping on the ground can be heard. Manaka evaded Yotaka and Shuuhei's questioning eyes and said: "If I said I can predict future… would you believe me?"

The conversation was interrupted by a shiny silver-head peaking in through the door: "Ala, Taka-Chan? Are these your friends?"

Manaka jumped and spun around: "Cap…Captain Ichimaru… Ko…konichiwa…" The brunette looked so frightened that she might faint any time.

"Ala… Are you afraid of me?" Gin stepped closer to Manaka and narrowed his eyes (If that's even possible.).

"No...no…um… If there is nothing important… to… discuss… I will be leaving…leaving right now…" Before the third division captain can react, the thirteen-year-old shunpoed away.

_Predict the future… Is that what she said?_ Gin watched Manaka's leaving shadow and smirked. _Interesting. _

* * *

**_Special: Manaka's self examination_**

I did not belong to this world, the world of fantasy where people have an afterlife surrounded by monsters. Most importantly, I thought it would only exist as one of my favorite Manga. Yes… Bleach, my little sister's treasure as she slept on the hospital bed.

It all started with a storm… I could still hear the laud thunder pounding on my heart and flashes of lightning that emitted an eerie greenish white light. The trees' shadow looked more like dancing devils than the evergreen plants.

I had a bad feeling… Maybe it was because of the news that my parents just passed away from a car accident or maybe it was because my baby sister's condition had just been verified as endangered.

These were fates… destinies… No matter how unfair they might sound, if they were happening, there was no way to stop them.

The last thing I remembered what swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping piles.

It was the nicest sleep I ever had, without any nightmares and worries.

By the time I opened my eyes again, I was laying in the forest, with an old lady smiling kindly at me, telling me that I was dead.

Then… I met_ her_… the girl that looked exactly like my little sister if not for her hair colour… the girl that did not belong the bleach as far as I remembered… the girl that was considered a one-in-a-hundred-years genius… Shiba Yotaka.


	7. Chapter 7: Division Three

News traveled fast in Seireitei. Soon, everyone knew the name "Shiba Yotaka", the second genius produced from the Shiba Clan. There were even rumors that the Shibas might regain their title as one of the four noble clans. It was one of the highest point of Yotaka's family histories with Shiba Isshin, tenth division captain, Shiba Kaien, 13th division lieutenant, and the newborn prodigy, Shiba Yotaka.

Everything was going well… for now anyways…

"Right? Yorukiri?" Yotaka smiled as she touched the hilt of her Zanpakuto.

Today was the day that she was reporting to her new division. Different form the crowded Rukongai, streets in Seireitei were empty except for Shinigamis who were either on patrol or delivering files. Occasionally, black butterflies flew around, carrying orders from the central 46 rooms.

"Shiba Yotaka, reporting to Div 3!" The black-haired girl stood in front of the division quarter and yelled with all her might, holding her sword in her arms like a teddy bear.

The men who were guarding the doors started at her with disbelief: "Little girl… Are you sure you are at the right place? There's no way Shiba Yotaka is you…:

Yotaka pouted and frowned, her cheeks flushed with a layer of redness. It was as expected that the shinigamis were expecting a teenage boy as soon as they heard the name "Yotaka". Even though she had never met her parents, she found them having a special interest in naming their daughters with male names, such as Kuukaku and Yotaka. Even more, after birds… Kaien = Ocean – Swallow. Ganjyu = Rock – Duck(namely, Asian duck). Kuukaku = Sky – Crane. Last but not least, Yotaka = Night – Hawk.

"Don't make me laugh…" The doormen ruffled her hair and replied, "You stole the Zanpakuto from someone, didn't you? Go return it! If our captain found out…"

"Oh! Isn't that Taka-Chan?" The same smirk, the same mischievous tone, the same silver hair… , " I thought I heard Your voice!"

Yotaka's eyes lit up the moment she saw her future captain: "Gin!" Like usual, she hopped up and sat around his neck. While holding Yutokiri with her right hand, she pulled Gin's hair with her left: "You said you would give me candy if I join your division!"

"I did? Ala… Taka-Chan is making stuff up~~"

The Shinigamis who were guarding the entrance jar-dropped.

"Gin…?"

"Taka…Chan?"

"Is Captain Ichimaru a LG hunter…? I never knew!" One exclaimed.

"…" The other one simply lost his ability to speak.

* * *

"Hello, mina! My name is Shiba Yotaka! I will be one of your fellow division members starting today. Nice to meet you!." Yotaka bowed to the crowed.

"I am Suzuki Ganta, third seat of division three." A serious-looking man with choppy gray hair said. His aura directly contrasted with that of Gin's, "I don't care if you are a rare prodigy. As long as you are a member of Div.3, you have to start from the bottom and work your way up!"

Yotaka gave him a toothy grin and replied: "Of course!"

The fourth seat was a woman in her mid-twenties. Her light brown hair was styled into a high bun with two strands of hair on both sides of her face: "Yamataka Ayumi, fourth seat of division three. Nice to meet you, Taka-Chan." Her voice was soft and worming, like the spring breeze.

Gin smirked and added: "She's gonna be Suzuki's wife in two months! Maybe have a baby in four months."

"TAICHO!" Both the third seat and the fourth seat yelped, their faces were burning red.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Suzuki!" Yotaka bowed toward the couple.

The woman blushed even more and decided to evade the topic: "Does Taka-Chan want to go on a mission with us tomorrow?"

"But she's only a kid, never mind the fact that she only spent one year at the academy." Suzuki Ganta frowned.

"Ala~~ It will be fine!" Gin laughed, "Taka-Chan is scary when she is serious."

The mission was a long-term investigation assignment, meaning, the research team would not be able to come back until the truth was found out. It might take a week, it might take ten years. However, that was not division three's role. They were only responsible for protecting the shinigamis from div. 12 while they carry out their data analysis. It sounded very simple, which was also the reason why Yamataka fourth seat suggested Yotaka to go.

There were traces of hollow attacks in district 68 where many souls were eaten in the middle of the night. Different from the soul-disappearance case eleven years ago, there were obvious evidences of hollow reiatsu left behind in the scenes. The weird part was quietness during the invasions. Even if the Rukongai citizens were incapable of sensing Hollows, they should be able to feel uncomfortable from the amount of reiatsu a Hollow can release. Even simpler, hear their neighbor's scream.

"There was nothing common between the victims, which meant the attacker was targeting people at random. The only thing we knew was the location of the attacks, which centered in boundary of district 68 and 69." Gin explained.

Ichimaru Gin was given the role to lead the mission in order to test his leadership skills and whether he was powerful enough to be a captain. As a rookie, he took the advice from Suzuki third seat and decided to send a small team first.

"Taicho's reiatsu might be too strong." Yamataka fourth seat told the follow division member, "If the Hollow is smart enough to hide his spiritual power, we assume he doesn't want to be capture by a captain-leveled opponent. If Taicho got into a battle, the sneaky Hollow might sense him and run away before we can get any information on him. If it truly has the power of invisibility, we can't risk scaring it away!"

"Our first priority is to protect the shinigamis from Div.12 and their investigation instruments. If your friend and a div.12 member is endangered at the same time, save the investigator first! I know how cruel it might sound, but it is part of our job! If you think you cannot do it, leave! Right! Now!"

"HAI!"

At the time, Yotaka thought such situation would never happen to her, despite the sick feeling in her stomach.

**Mission before life!**

**Goal before fear!**

**Duty before pride!**

**Others before self!**

**Indifferent treatment toward all souls!**

This was a Shinigami's destiny. She should know what to expect.


	8. Chapter 8: The Invisible Opponent

**A/N: AP exams are really a pain. I wonder how many people actually finished the written part, cuz I didn't. **

* * *

Yotaka was in a daze. There was blood everywhere, though being a shinigami, she should be used to seeing the sight of blood.

Not this kind… not the kind that would bring death upon one's teammate. Why… where did all these blood come from? Yotaka looked at herself. Yes, her clothes were sticking and soaking wet. Even if red does penetrate black, the little girl could still smell the metallic smell of the essential human fluid… However, she could not find any wounds. Was she supposed to found injuries? If she didn't have any cuts, where did all those blood come from?

Ayumi… Yamataka Ayumi… Ayumi…San?

Memories came flowing back, like a wave of tsunami crushing the shore. Yotaka suddenly found it hard to breath, as if buries under water. Her senses dulled and her vision blurred.

"Gin…" Yotaka murmured, "Gin… Yotaka doesn't understand, why…"

* * *

Yesterday:

Yotaka was enjoying the food. Although she had no idea what the name was, but the taste was amazing. She liked Rukongai more after all. Seireitei was way too serious for a girl like her. Yet, she chose to become a shinigami. Was there a specific reason? She wanted to become stronger, so strong that she can protect even Gin. The Shiba girl laughed at the thought. Gin didn't need any protection. He was too cool for that. Maybe… Kaien Ni-san? Nope, he was powerful enough as well. Uncle Isshin? Yotaka remembered her uncle's Ojisan-styled smirks, so immature for a full-grown captain. Yup, it had been decided. Yotaka wanted to become so strong that she could protect uncle Isshin.

Satisfied with her thought, Yotaka took another bite. Sitting beside her was a division twelve member, a tall man with glasses so thick that might be able to stop a Zanpakuto attack. He was supposed to be Yotaka's partner. His job was to investigate, leaving all the fighting to Yotaka. Clearly, he didn't seem to be happy about the group that he was in. It was not hard to understand the reason behind it. No matter how much a genius Shiba Yotaka might be, she was still an "inexperienced brat" as how Suzuki third seat put it.

"I'm bored…" Yotaka thought as she took out a bag of candy. It had been quiet for… a week? No hollow attacked and nobody volunteered to talk to her. They all seemed to be too tensed.

_Tensed about what?_ Yotaka grumbled. She suddenly regretted her choice of going on the mission. Gin was probably stalking Rangiku back at Seireitei if not trying to annoy his fellow division member.

"You shouldn't be letting your guard down. Ojou-San."The division twelve member, Susake Kanduro, said impatiently, as he wrote down a serious of number from the device that he was holding.

"Hai… Kanduro Ojisan." Yotaka replied with a somewhat lazy tone, waving her hand in the air as if dismissing him.

Susake Kanduro sighed: "I might die in your hands, young lady."

"Nope." Yotaka smiled, "My mission is to not let that happen. If it happened, I am probably dead before you do, so don't worry."

"That doesn't sound convincing at all."

Yotaka liked Kanduro. He was serious but funny at the same time, kind of like the combination of Gin and Suzuki third seat.

The girl's smile froze. Her muscle tensed as she leaped up, hands on the hilt of her Zanpakuto.

"What's wrong?" Kanduro asked, "There's no Hollo…" Then, his voice was cut off as he saw the number on his device skyrocketed, along with an ear-piercing alarm. "Hollow?! But I can't sense any reiatsu!"

"It's hidden… really dim, but powerful. It in this room, but I can't tell where." Yotaka commented, "I wonder if the others encountered similar situation."

As if answering Yotaka's question, a woman's panicking scream sounded. Yotaka took a look at Kanduro and hesitated if she should go over and check. Like Suzuki third seat had said, missions came before life. If Yotaka's mission was to protect Kanduro, than she shouldn't let him out of her site.

Of course, fate didn't give the young shinigami time to think. A huge invisible force came crashing down, creating a big hole in the ceiling. Yotaka used her reflects and pulled Kanduro, who looked more confused than ever, under a nearby table. Different from the div.12 member, Yotaka didn't need to know what the force was or why it was attacking them in broad daylight. All she needed to do was to defeat it.

"Kanduro! It's a Hollow!" Yotaka's playful tone vanished, "Do what you have to do. I will hold it as long as I can!"

Not waiting for the older man's response, Yotaka leaped out of her hiding place. "君臨者よ！血雨の仮面·万象·羽ばたき·ヒトの名を冠す者よ！焦熱と争乱、海隔て逆巻き南へと歩を進めよ! Hado #31: Shakkahō!" A red swirling ball consist of high level of compressed spiritual pressure bigger than any kido spells that Yotaka had summoned before crushed at the invisible monster.

Unfortunately, it passed right through the empty space where the Hollow used to be and destroyed the wooden wall that was right behind. Yotaka cursed under her breath and looked around the room: "Did it escaped?"

"No!" Kanduro cried out, "It's still here somewhere!"

"What?!" Yotaka blinked, "but I can't sense any reiatsu other than…"

"…yours…" A realization crossed Yotaka's face.

"Kanduro! Hide…" Before the youngest Shiba get the chance to finish her sentence, she was flying at high speed toward the back wall. Her back was burning from the impact.

"Hide your reiatsu!" Yotaka spite out a mouthful of blood and continued, "I suspect it can imitate others spiritual pressure!"

Another attack aiming at Yotaka's stomach sent her right across the room, breaking the door into thousand pieces. Pan rain through her insides, especially her ribcage.

"Shiba!" Kanduro cried out.

Yotaka sat on the ground, eyes closed, reiatsu faded, as if she already lost her conscious. Of course, the Hollow had thought the same thing. It approached the young girl and raised its fist, probably for the last time before enjoying its meal.

"_Bakudo #9, Geki_!" A small, rather soft voice broke the silence. Red light surrounded what looked like a patch of empty space.

The young girl picked herself slowly from the ground, one hand on her long Zanpakuto. "Gotcha~~" Yotaka raised her head and smiled, "The moment you thought I was incapable of fighting, you let your guard down and released a little amount of reiatsu… just enough for me to locate you."

Kanduro's eyes widened. He had always thought of Yotaka as an inexperience little girl with larger than normal potential, but not as a real shinigami who knew how to trick her opponent. He smiled a bit and thought:_ Kids these days… unbelievable._

The red light flashed, symbolized the Hollow's attempt to break the restriction. As any shinigami would have done, Yotaka was not going to let that happen. She pointed her finger at the Hollow and said: "Although it would be easier to just kill ya, but Seireitei seemed to want you alive and kicking. This is the first time I try, but…雷鳴の馬車糸車の間隙光もて此を六に別つ! Bakudo #61 Rikujōkōrō!"

Yellow light formed six triangular shaped planes that engulfed the Hollow, giving him another layer of unbreakable restraint. Rikujōkōrō was a high level Bakudo. It was rare to see anyone aside from a Kido expert to use it. However, if you said that to Yotaka, she would only laugh and tell you to visit Manaka. Sawada Manaka was entirely another story, she succeed in using Rikujōkōrō the first time she tried, and that was without the help of incantation. Even the teachers at the Academy jar-dropped when they saw Manaka use Kido.

"Kanduro. Do you consider mission complete?" Yotaka turned to look at the scientist.

He shrugged and replied: "Well, for you, it's a complete… I still have to analyze… this … new specie."

* * *

Yotaka reported to Suzuki third seat about her accomplishment right after capturing the invisible Hollow. The strict man was finally able to break a smile and complimented Yotaka. The plan was to take Mr. Invisible (as how Yotaka named it) back to Div.12 where better equipments were. It had been know by the higher-ups that Hollows were developing rapidly in their special abilities lately. Such abnormal change scared the senior council as they ordered to find out the origin of their power using the advantage that Yotaka created.

Everything was going well… until three Menos dropped in front of their path.

The sky was ripped open. Normal souls scrambled across the streets, trying to find a safe place that didn't exist. Suzuki Ganta stared at the Menos and pulled out his Zanpakuto: "Team one! Call for reinforcement! Team two and team three attack after me! Team four, protect the Hollow and division 12. Member of Division twelve! Although I don't have the authorities to order you, but please help evacuate the Rukongai citizens!"

Even though Yotaka was put on protection duty, she couldn't complain under such an emergency. She nodded and stood in front of Kanduro and Mr. Invisible.

"So… these are Menos." Kanduro murmured, "I've only seen them on books."

"Why are Menos attacking at a time like this, anyways?" Yotaka questioned.

"Isn't it obvious?" Yamataka Ayumi stood beside Yotaka, her eyebrows twitched together in concentration, "They don't want the invisible Hollow to be analyzed. Otherwise, their secrets will be out. But how did they know?"

A heavy word fell on everyone's heart. Nobody made a sound, but it was mutual knowledge:_** Traitor!**_


End file.
